The following text should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art. Furthermore, citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention, or that any reference forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art.
A buccal tube is an appliance used by orthodontists during a phase of treatment to correct malpositioned teeth. The buccal tube is a device attached to a patient's tooth for orthodontic treatment in which the buccal or cheek-facing side of the appliance includes a structure having an opening that is typically suited for receiving another orthodontic hardware member, such as an archwire, lip bumper, facebow, headgear appliance, etc.
For buccal tubes used with archwires, existing buccal tubes have difficulties associated with the development of friction between the buccal tube and the archwire inserted within the archwire slot of the buccal tube. This type of friction (also referred to herein as “binding friction”) tends to cause binding between the archwire and the buccal tube. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a buccal tube that reduces the amount of friction developed between the archwire slot of the buccal tube and the archwire.
Existing buccal tubes also have a shape that often irritates the inside of the patient's cheek because the edge of the buccal tube repeatedly rubs against the cheek tissue. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a buccal tube that improves comfort of the appliance so that the buccal tube is less irritating to the patient, thereby improving patient satisfaction and cooperation.
Finally, orthodontists face a number of difficulties in applying orthodontic appliances to teeth because of the relatively small size of the appliances and the inherent problems associated with working within the confines of a patient's mouth. Prior patents at least partially directed to installation features include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,206,690 and 6,893,257, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Also incorporated by reference in its entirety is U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0046224. Although these documents include some features for aiding the installation of an orthodontic appliance, there remains a need to provide improved appliance features to facilitate easier and more accurate placement of the appliance on the patient's tooth by the orthodontist.